Perry pushes ahead before Iowa caucus

AUSTIN (KXAN) - Less than two weeks away from Iowa Caucuses, and Gov. Rick Perry is campaigning hard in the Hawkeye State in the Republican race for the White House. The latest CNN poll shows him in fifth place, with seven percent behind Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich, Ron Paul and Michele Bachmann.

Perry’s campaign donations are bigger than most of his rivals, and he is in the midst of a 42-city bus tour in Iowa. Now, as part of his push to blanket the states airwaves, he has a new television ad out Tuesday .

"Iowa Republicans have a crucial decision: Which street will we choose?” the ad states. “Mitt Romney, Wall Street. He made millions buying companies and laying off workers. Newt Gingrich, K Street. The lobbyist hangout in Washington. Newt got rich. Made millions off of Freddie Mac. Or Rick Perry, Main Street. The outsider who sparked the creation of a million new jobs. He'll overhaul Washington and toss out the corrupt insiders. The choice is clear."

After a rough showing in early debates, Perry fell from the top spot, but that might be to his advantage. He is not in that heavily scrutinized front-runner position, likely giving him more freedom on the campaign trail.

For instance, a big statement he made this week is getting a lot of attention, as he said,“Wall Street bailout is the single biggest act of theft in American history. ”

But it also opens up the potential for a lot of criticism, like when his campaign sent out a release concerning the death of North Korean Leader Kim Jong Il, only the email's subject said Kim Jong II (the second) instead - a move that got a plenty of fun-poking on Twitter. It has since been corrected on his website .

There is also the controversy surrounding his early retirement pension while he is also receiving his salary as governor. Check out our political blog post explaining how that process is legal .